Friday, October 12, 2007

What I'm Reading this Week

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. RowlingWhat are YOU reading this week?

I have just finished the final book in the Harry Potter series!If you have not yet been touched by the Harry Potter magic, it is not too late.My son, who completed his second reading of the series, provides this list to give you an idea about whether you want to give any of the books a try.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone: Well written, and with a good story, JK Rowling’s first book is a great story for readers 11 and up. Full of heartwarming moments, as well as action, suspense, and an engaging set of characters, this book was a great start to the series.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: This book, much like the first, was a good story, with good writing to back it up. It does, however, incorporate some more adult themes, and the characters seem to find themselves in mortal peril quite a bit more often, I’d say that this book is a step above the first, and again, a very enjoyable read.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Keeping in stride, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is once again, a great book, and just a step above it’s predecessors. It is, however, just a little bit creepier than the books that came before it, but does a great job of showing us how the characters mature with the readers.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: JK Rowling breaks from tradition in this book, transforming her style of writing from what I would label “Children’s” to “Young Adult”. Aside from a complete transformation in style, the direction the story takes and the way the characters behave and interact with each other is completely different, and in my opinion, infinitely better.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: This book is, without any doubt, my favorite in the series. Dead serious, and at times a little overwhelmingly depressing and oppressive, it still somehow managed to be a thoroughly enjoyable read. A real page turner, in the best sense of the word.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince: This book had one of the best stories, that is to say, that it had the potential to be the best book in the series. The quality of the writing, however, was lacking. So, we have a good story that is just filled with several unnecessary events. It wasn’t bad enough that I really wanted to stop reading it at any point, but it could have (and should have) been better.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: This book started out strong, and continued to get better as it progressed. JK Rowling picked up the slack that she left with the Half-Blood Prince, her writing style back up to its usual caliber. Until the last quarter of the book, where I found myself too uninterested to really want to finish the book. My only other major complaint, aside from it kind of tapering off at the end, was that in all the other books you could sort of figure out where things were headed before you got there. And in this one, there wasn’t as much room to do that. Too much evidence was introduced too late. I’d say this book is worth reading, even if its just to find out how the series ends.